3L Foundation

On behalf of Ashley and Pam, greetings!

The last few days have been a whirlwind….just like every day seems to become here. We got in late last night and I need to head out as soon as I can today.

Yesterday was certainly a full day of things to do. Upon arrival at the CPDC, Pam and Ashley distributed books to the kids for them to enjoy the lazy days of their “summer.” April and May are the hottest months here in Thailand and the kids are out of school for a few weeks. So afternoons have some extra time to relax and refresh (as much as can be done when it is this hot). But the books were a welcome gift and all had their bindings broken-in soon after their being handed out, often being enjoyed in the cool share of a protective nook somewhere private.

Pam enjoyed reading with some of the kids and Ashley set her Mac up to go through her pictures and mine with the kids. They are providing each of the kids with a few photo prints of shots of them that the kids pick out. They will be printed up over the next day or so and handed out to the kids early next week. It was a lot of fun to watch the reactions of kids gathered around Ashley’s Mac to see all we had captured from them.

I went around photographing daily lives of my old friends and got some nice new shots of a few new kids here. I am continually amazed at how receptive and brave these kids are, despite the dark times that have been imposed upon them. The degree of healthy, nourishing intimacy they allow themselves to be susceptible to in relationships of trust is really inspirational. So often experiences of dark intimacy tend to shut us down to intimacy all together. We circle the wagons and protect ourselves from anything that comes close to us. These kids thirst for intimacy in kindness, laughter and friendship. I think a lot of therapists back home in the U.S. would be out of a job if many people could see these kids and the examples they are to simply live and let true nature come out. They are undeterred by the anger and resentment that certainly would be understandable in their lives, but which finds no footing in their innocents and willingness to open their hearts to try and trust again.

My friend, Fern was especially a fun subject to shoot. All these kids have had a pretty rough time and while I don’t know all their stories, I do know something of Fern’s. She reminds me of a friend I have back home. Once in a while, you come across someone who has been terribly wounded. The wounds of the spirit and mind can be far worse than those of the body. Wounds inflicted to the spirit and the mind through the body can be especially devastating. But wounds well tended make us stronger, not weaker, as a dear friend once told me. Sometimes, you find a soul like Fern or my friend back home that is cautious, but offers the wound to be healed without your having to approach them about it. This is very brave and when in someone’s natural spirit, it becomes such an invitation to live this way in my life. How can you not be moved when those who are wounded offer you their smile and trust to make you feel comfortable and heal your wounds?

Fern had a good time avoiding my camera by covering her face with her new book, until she realized I wasn’t going to give up. Then she enjoyed making me pay for it with sneaking up behind me while photographing others and performing a kung-fu grip on my sides just below my ribs, usually sending me into a startled and overly dramatic shout of surprise to which she took great delight and satisfaction. After letting her watch a movie on my iPhone, she was more than happy to let me snap a few shots of her with her natural smile beaming in the presence of her true self.

I need to run, but I did want to give everyone an update on how it was going. We are all well and experiencing nourishment for our spirits and souls, which seems to reside in the Einstein-ian realm of temporal passage, as the time we spend in this enveloping presence of purpose and love that would take an hour’s time in the real world passes in only ten minutes in our world here. We go into the CPDC village and spend an hour or two and when we come out, the rest of the world’s clocks indicate six, seven or maybe even 8+ hours have passed.

Time is already going by so fast here and so much we still need to do. The work we have done is itself very long and tiring, but day’s end is met especially exhausting with hot weather (especially for this yankee that just came out of a long, cold winter). The evenings though are so delightful. The sun relents its persistent (but welcome) heat, the air cools and a gentle breeze, seducing this skin, inviting everyone to venture out from no longer needed eaves and shelter. There, still feeling the radiant warm earth under your feet, the subtle dimmed light invites eyes to open wider without sunglasses to enjoy the steadily deepening blue of the evening sky and the wake of colors on the horizon as the sun makes it’s way to the other side of the planet.

We hope all of our friends and family back home are well and we hope these accounts allow you to see the wonderful times we are having and to share our joy given to us by young people who give us more than they will ever realize. Take care.

Namaste’